Commentary on the text “The Story of Chuytzhit Dakini”
At the beginning of the text, the woman who recorded this story pays homage to her spiritual teacher and the Three Jewels. She says that her name is Chuytzhit of the Lin clan, and that, for the benefit of all other people, she has written down her spiritual experience, which she underwent at the moment when the body parted from the soul, about the benefit of merit and the harm of sinful deeds, and about how she was sent back with news of hell and Yama’s instructions.
I will translate somewhat freely, since the sutra was translated from Mongolian.
Chuytzhit’s Deathbed Reflections
A woman named Chuytzhit says that she had been ill for 16 days. And although the treatment indicated by divinations and predictions was carried out, the necessary rites were performed, and prayer services were held, none of this was of any benefit. And when she grew worse, she thought:
“Now I will die. Although I had previously intended to become a nun, my parents and relatives did not allow me. Though I listened to religious instructions in childhood, I did not reflect on them enough. As for those above, I did not sufficiently honor the guru, the Three Jewels, and the saints. As for those below, I did not give enough alms to the six kinds of living beings.”
She also remembered that she had made an offering of food to certain teachers and mentors. Summing up her life in this way, she saw that she had not accumulated so much spiritual merit and thought:
“I, poor wretch, having had the good fortune to obtain a human body, so difficult to acquire, have nevertheless committed evil deeds, and now I will die in repentance. Alas, it is too late now to grieve.”
She also remembered that every year she had killed 20–30 cows and sheep, and thought that the fruits of all these sins would also fall upon her:
“Who but me will bear all this? Surely, having been reborn with an evil fate, I will experience suffering.”
She also thought that her husband and children were unlikely to hold proper memorial rites for her, since her husband was stingy with property and had no religious feeling. Yet she nevertheless decided to tell him to distribute some part of the property after her death. And she called the children and said:
“It seems that I will no longer recover from this illness, so listen carefully to the three final words of my testament.
Previously, I did not accumulate enough virtues, and for various reasons I amassed many sins. And now, in order to increase my merit, distribute a third of our property. Give half of the jades and corals to my daughter, and distribute the other half after my death as an act of charity. In doing good deeds, do not mix them with sin; strive for virtue, and all of you, father and children alike, follow the teaching as best you can. And if you cannot, then at least refrain from sinful actions. If you do not carry this out, then when dying you will repent, just as I do. If you, husband, cannot do it yourself, then at least make both of my sons follow the Dharma and do everything possible for the Dharma. Arrange all the necessary prayer services. You, husband and sons, refrain from sins and diligently strive for virtue. Husband, give me your word that you will not allow another wife to torment my sons and daughter.”
Her husband answered her:
“If after your death I distribute a third of the property, what will the four of us, father and children, eat? The jade and corals should be given to your daughter, and if I do not take another woman to run the household, the children will not be able to manage, since they are too small. I do not intend to diminish your merit, but for now I will not give you such a promise.”
Then she thought that he would not perform many good deeds, judging by his words. Then she thought:
“Yes, I myself did not accumulate very much merit either, nor did I think about the benefit of the teaching. I offered nothing to the saints or to the teacher.”
She also thought with regret that if he took another wife, then her son and daughter would suffer.
The Experience of the Intermediate State
“From all these experiences and thoughts that beset her, her head began to spin. And it seemed to her that she had fallen underground, while from above it was as if a multitude of people were pressing down on her. She was very frightened. Then it seemed to her as though she were wandering in a vast ocean and, freezing, felt such pain as if blisters had formed on her body and burst. After that it seemed to her that the whole earth was engulfed in flames, and in that flame, blazing with a loud crackling, her body burned up. And this was tormenting for her. Then, again and again, it seemed to her that lightning began to flash and such thunder sounded as if the whole earth were trembling. Then she calmed down, and everything that happened afterward for a long time she did not remember. It seemed to her that she found herself in a corner of the house, and above her head there appeared a five-colored radiance the size of a shield. From this radiance emanated many rays, and at the ends of these rays were beings with seven heads unlike one another, with human bodies clad in armor, and with huge eyes the size of the Moon and the Sun. In their 70 hands they held many swords and shouted: ‘Ha! Hu! Ho! Kill! Strike! Seize!’ Their cries sounded like the roar of a thousand dragons, and she was very frightened.
But then she remembered her guru’s instructions that any visible light is one’s own light, any visible forms are one’s own forms, that is, manifestations of the mind, and any audible sound is one’s own sound. That is, she remembered the instructions on the intermediate state. She also remembered the instructions that one’s fear is born in one’s own consciousness. As soon as she thought of this, she decided that in reality none of this was happening, apart from the movement of the mind. All of it immediately disappeared, the fear passed, and she calmed down. When she looked at her own bed, it seemed to her as though there lay the stinking corpse of an enormous frog, covered with her clothes.”
That is, she saw her body in the form of a frog; so it appeared to her through the eyes of the astral body.
Funeral Rites and the Deceased Woman’s Perception
“Children, relatives, neighbors—all came up to the bed. Some began to kiss the frog’s corpse on the lips, others began to cry, holding it by the paws. And at that very moment thunder sounded, as if a thousand dragons were roaring at once. Hail made of blood and pieces of pus the size of an egg began to fall on her and strike her, causing unbearable suffering. When the relatives’ crying subsided, the thunder and hail also ceased, and the pain abated. She thought that this was how she perceived the crying and tears of her relatives.
Then her younger brother Etigeu said: ‘There is no benefit in our sitting and crying. Without a teacher, the rite for the deceased cannot be performed. We must invite a teacher with 20–30 students, and it will be good if we ask them to perform the rite.’ The elder sister had formerly revered the great hermit Nigurisyguch Erdeniya: ‘I will invite him to perform the rite. And I will also call one teacher to read the “Diamond Sutra,” that is, the “Vajracchedika.”’ The husband said: ‘And I will invite a Bon teacher.’ The youngest of the brothers began to object: ‘My elder sister did not revere the Bon teaching and did not follow it. Do as you wish, but I will go and invite my teacher and this great hermit.’ Having said this, he left.
Meanwhile, the cunning husband, together with the nephew, took grain by cart, saying: ‘We have six measures of barley at home; let us ask the neighbors to grind it.’
She saw and heard all this and began to reflect: ‘What are they planning to do? They will make an offering, but now my illness from fear seems to have passed. If they simply give away so much flour to outsiders, they will not get even half of it back afterward’—she thought, and began to be miserly. She had no thought that she had died.
Soon her elder son brought a reciter and instructed him to read the “Diamond Sutra,” the Vajracchedika. When he opened the prayer book and performed the rite of confession of faith, she was very glad, and her soul grew calm.
In the evening another teacher came with 20 students, as did the great hermit Nigurisyguch Erdeniya. She prayed to the teacher and asked for a blessing, but it seemed to her that for some reason he did not bless her. She thought: ‘If this holy teacher is angry with me, then why has he come here?’ She asked about this, but her husband and children gave her no answer. She sat, anxiously reflecting: ‘Why are they all angry with me?’
The hermit teacher placed his hand on the head of the frog’s corpse, performed the rite, delivered a sermon, recited blessings, and from time to time repeated: “O Chuitzhit, your hour of death has come; leave behind your concerns about children, property, and food; think of your soul as the white letter ‘a,’ in the form of a white drop, having entered my heart and setting off with me to the paradise of Sukhavati, to the sacred realm of the inconceivably radiant Buddha; let us go there together.” When he commanded this, she thought: “I have not died; I am the same as before, but since the teacher has said it, I will go.” However, she could not go, because she was afraid of the frog’s corpse. And, judging by the teacher’s words, death was delayed, but the soul and body had already been separated once and for all.
After this, meat, vodka, and flour were offered to the teacher and the disciples, but nothing was given to her. The great hermit said: “Daughter, serve your mother her share of food.” The daughter, placing a little meat and flour on a dish, set it all together with tea beside the frog’s corpse, saying: “Mother, please accept it.” But because nothing had been given to her, and everything was placed, as it seemed to her, beside the frog’s corpse, she thought that they were disgusted by her, and, becoming angry with her daughter, fell into despair. She felt unbearable hunger and thirst, yet sat and endured. When, by order of the great hermit, the spell, mantra, and other dharanis were read aloud, and her share of meat and flour was thrown into the fire, from their smell it seemed to her that she had both drunk and eaten. Her hunger and thirst passed, and she calmed down.”
Spirits in subtle bodies feed on the aromas of sacrificial food.
“When the sacrificial food and the refreshments for the teacher and disciples had ended, they sat down to read memorial prayers. Another teacher, Lama Nigurisyguch Erdeniya, prepared for contemplation and sat in deep thought. But because all of them seemed to be angry with her and had not given her even a little food, her body and soul suffered immeasurably and were very changeable, like a bird’s feather fluttering in the wind. She thought: “It would be better if, taking the jade and corals, I set off for the land of the victorious Buddha.” And when her daughter and sons began to weep, crying out “Mother!”, a hail of blood and pus once again began to fall, striking her and causing unbearable torment. And again, as soon as the weeping subsided, the hail of blood and pus, as well as the terrible thunder, like the roar of a thousand dragons, ceased.
The other visions that appeared were terrible and absurd; she stared at them in horror, fearing something. Her mood often worsened, and she suffered. Then she thought: “It would be good if I sat near the teacher,” but she remembered his instructions that a woman should not sit near a man. So she hid behind him and began to listen attentively to the reading of the prayers. The fear passed, and she became very calm. She thought: “And now it would be good somehow to draw closer to the great hermit.” When she came nearer, it seemed to her that she saw the all-perfect and four-armed Buddha Avalokiteshvara, who compassionately commanded her: “Let her soul, like mine, immerse itself in contemplation.” The fear in her soul passed, and she became immeasurably calm and joyful.
The memorial rites continued. As before, her share of food was placed beside the frog’s corpse. As before, the great hermit threw a little food into the fire, and again it seemed to her that she had eaten and drunk. At that moment, someone outside called: “Chuitzhit, come here!” When she went out to see who it was, someone very much resembling her father said: “Come with me; I will show you something and quickly send you back.” She thought: “The teacher is in the house, along with many novices, and they are all angry with me. My husband and children did not even give me a little food; I can no longer stay there, so I will go away.”
Journey to the Intermediate Realm
Having set out on her journey, she reached a beautiful place where neither grass nor trees grew. There stretched a wide sandy steppe without a single hillock or rise. It would have taken a rider 20 days to cross it. In the middle of the steppe shone the waters of a river flowing nowhere, neither upward nor downward, as wide as the flight of an arrow. And across it a bridge had been thrown, whose length was also an arrow’s flight. Between this steppe and the mountains there was a huge, wondrous city.
The man who had brought her here said:
“Since you have come to the city, go and see whether you have any acquaintances here. And I will go across this bridge, and you come there too.”
Having said this, he left.
She thought, “Perhaps I know someone there,” and entered the city. There, as if in an anthill, there was an enormous number of men and women. Some of them looked well and were dressed in fine clothing; others had emaciated, ash-colored bodies and poor clothing, but all of them complained of suffering. Their faces were gloomy, and some were weeping. Then she trembled all over and thought, “Can this really happen to me?” And among this multitude of people was her shepherd Etigel. Noticing her, he exclaimed, “Ah, elder sister, you have come here too.” She said, “Yes, and are you here?” He said, “Yes, I too am suffering here.” She asked, “What is this city called? Why are so many people tormented in it? And what lies beyond the bridge?” But then some man said, “Come with me there quickly!”
When she resolved to go with him, that man said:
“This is called the intermediate realm where the soul abides for those who have died in the human world. Some of those who arrive here have exhausted their span of life. For 7 days they wait here while the 49-day memorial rites are performed for them. Others, although they have not exhausted the measure of their life, were brought here by mistake by servants, the spirits of Yama. They wait until they are sent away from here for up to 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Those who look well, who have food and clothing, in their previous birth made offerings to the Three Jewels for the sake of the higher ones, and gave alms to the lower ones, that is, alms to beggars and others. Their relatives and friends prayed and made offerings to each teacher and thereby accomplished small, medium, and great virtue. If deeds are performed with prayers every day, they increase more than 100 and 1000 times. Those who look bad, during their lifetime did not perform or accumulate merit. After their death, their relatives did not make offerings, and if they did offer a little donation, they did not make the necessary good wishes and thus did not multiply them. Although those who have not performed good deeds will remain here for a long time, this will not atone for their guilt. For some, the span of life has ended, and beyond this bridge abides Yama (here another of his names is given—Erlik Nomun-khan) and his retinue, the lord of hell, the just king. For those who arrive there, sins and virtues will be counted. Those who did good themselves, or for whose sake good deeds were performed by relatives, will be freed and sent to higher rebirths. Those who sinned, whose relatives did not make offerings, will burn and be boiled, experiencing unimaginable suffering.”
This man said:
“I myself was tormented day and night, wondering what would become of me. Earlier, when I arrived here, one of the spirits of Yama appeared and said, ‘The term of your life has not ended, so it is not yet time to come to this judgment; return and wait,’ and that is why I am here. Now, sister, go and find out what Lord Yama and his attendants will say. If they likewise order you to remain here, come back.”
Having heard these words, she became frightened, and then, stepping onto the bridge, she saw on this bridge a man lying on his back with arms and legs outstretched. From above he was being crushed by a sacred book the size of a city. Molten cast iron was being poured into his mouth, and she asked the man accompanying her, “And what sin did he commit?” This man answered:
“This one, while in the human world, stole things from others, but holding a sacred book in his hands, swore that he did not steal. Because he ate stolen food, he is punished here by having molten cast iron poured into his mouth. And for killing living beings, he will be punished later.”
The Judgment of Lord Yama
When, as she had been told, she went to the other shore, inside the enormous palace she saw the lord of hell, Yama, on a great golden throne. His body was yellow in color, his hands were in the posture of contemplation, he wore a headdress on his head, and he was dressed in sacred garments adorned with an image of a patra. Satin curtains were stretched all around, and above was a silk canopy. Before him had been placed many different offerings.
To his right, a spirit with the head of a bull held a mirror; on his left, a spirit with the head of a monkey held scales. In front sat a spirit with the head of a sheep, holding a book. There were also other spirit-servants of various appearances, with different heads, open mouths, bared fangs, and eyes as large as the Sun and the Moon. In their hands they held terrifying weapons—spears, swords, bows, arrows, axes, battle-axes, hooks, saws, hammers, sabers, nails, pincers, and a vast multitude of knives. And they all shouted: “Seize him! Seize him! Kill him! Kill him! Ha! Ha! Ho!” They uttered the growls of wild beasts, leapt about, and raged.
Before them, in great fear, 300 men and women awaited judgment. Among them was a tall, tanned man with protruding teeth, dressed in a felt robe and a fur cloak. Holding prayer beads in his hands, he recited a mantra.
The Interrogation of the Righteous Man
The Lord asked him:
“While dwelling in the world of humans, did you receive initiation into the teaching of the secret dharani, did you read the texts while contemplating the body of the Buddha? Did you look into your own soul? Did you look, without delusion, upon your own face? Understanding the unreality and illusory nature of all phenomena is the basis for awakening. Tell me, how did you act?
Those who venerated the Three Jewels, copied and read sacred texts, made offerings of food to the clergy, repaid the kindness of father and mother, gave alms to the poor, recited prayers that have no ill repute, protected the lives of living beings by avoiding killing them, showed great compassion toward others, helped the weak with body, speech, and thought, striving to do good, in subsequent rebirths go on to higher rebirths. These are the main conditions for attaining the well-being of celestial beings. Speak—how did you act?
Tell me also how you purified yourself of bodily sins. Did you make pilgrimages, did you lead an ascetic way of life while observing fasts? Did you not kill the father and mother who created your body? Did you not kill the teacher who created your soul? Did you not compel monks and novices to apostasy? All these great sins are the cause of suffering in the realms of hell, pretas, and animals.”
Then he continued the interrogation:
“Did you break your vow, falling into a false state, disturbing the souls of your teacher or friends; did you torment the innocent; did you commit a great sin by beating and robbing pious men and women? Did you speak lies, slander, utter harsh words, engage in idle talk, appropriate what was not given to you? Did you kill, did you have perverse intercourse? Did you harbor envious and greedy thoughts, did you adhere to false views? Did false views not arise from disbelief in the teaching? Did you neglect various teachings?”
And this man said:
“I was very devout. They call me ‘One Who Increased His Power by the Force of Merit.’ I always showed mercy to the weak, recited the mantra from childhood, and intended to become a monk, but my parents and relatives did not allow it. Although I married, if any teacher came to the house, then for the benefit of others I greeted him, saw him off, honored him as far as I could, and helped him in every way. I listened to many instructions and sermons, received many initiations, but had little free time to reflect on them.
So that an oil lamp might be placed before the large statue of the Buddha, I sent 2 bricks of tea. I offered tea to the monastic community of one monastery. For 20 years I provided sustenance to a hermit who devoted himself to contemplation in a mountain cave. When he passed away, I donated a brick of tea and pronounced the appropriate good wishes. So that the Sutra of the Fortunate Kalpa would be copied and read 1,000 times, I donated gold, a horse, 2 bricks of tea to the world, and diligently fulfilled the good wish.
Through donations, I brought joy to my teacher, honored and helped my father and mother in every possible way, and performed enough good deeds not to repent after death. I never mocked people; since I have no enemies, I harmed no one. I did not steal, rob, or harbor enmity. From the age of 13 until I arrived here, I recited the hymn to Manjushri daily. I recited the mantra 10,000 times without interruption. When a teacher who recites the mantra arrived, I offered him a piece of silk, also copied out good wishes, and presented them to him.
Such are my merits. As for sins, I ate the meat of many slaughtered animals, but I did not kill them myself. These are essentially all my good deeds and sins. Please judge them.”
Weighing of Deeds
The lord of hell said, “Check in the mirror and the book whether everything he has said is true or false.” The spirits with the heads of a bull and a monkey looked and said, “As for good deeds, in his childhood he performed 2 fasts and 3 vows in succession, and recited the mantra countless times. Everything else he has told is true. As for sins, the three of them stole a large yak and cast lots to decide who would kill it. The lot fell to him, and he killed the animal.”
As soon as this was said, a white man appeared from the sky and declared: “This man has performed an unimaginable multitude of good deeds, and there is not even a sesame seed’s worth of sin upon him. He can be sent to the sacred realm of the Buddha; the prosperity of gods and humans is not sufficient for him. Here is the number of good deeds accumulated by him in past lives.” And he poured out a pile of white stones as large as a house. But a black man also arrived.
The white man is the embodiment of his merits, his subtle part, his inner patron deity. The black man embodies the power of his sins, impure karma.
This black man said: “Over the course of his countless rebirths, this man has accumulated many sins. He cannot attain even the prosperity of gods and humans; there is no place for him other than hell. Here are the sins accumulated by him in his previous life.” With these words he poured out a heap of black stones the size of 10 handfuls.
Then the black and white stones were weighed; the good deeds seemed weightier and more abundant, the sins lighter and fewer in number. When it was reported that by the power of good deeds the sins had been purified, Lord Yama commanded: “Oh! You will attain bliss, having received a human body and accumulated many virtues by performing new deeds, each better than the last. Since the human body is even better than the body of a deity, I will send you so that, as predestined by fate, you may be reborn as the son of a rich man and, entering the path of holy faith, rise to the higher realms forever. And now go along this yellow, variegated road.”
That man said: “If there is someone here who is to go to the world of humans, let him tell everyone to strive for virtue and refrain from sin. Those with bad fortune will not be freed from suffering. Those with good fortune will be raised up and sent to higher rebirths.”
Interrogation of a Sinner
In the same way, another man was questioned, and he said: “I did not know that the sins and virtues of those who come here are counted so precisely. Since I had no extra property or food, and my wife was not particularly pious either, apart from the usual taxes I did not give very much for other donations. I was unable to perform good deeds with my body, speech, and thoughts. When I still had the opportunity, I did not receive any initiations from my teacher other than the initial one. My wife would not allow me to give alms to pilgrims who knocked at our door. I am guilty of killing enough fish to provide food for twenty days, as well as 20–30 domestic birds, pigs, sheep, and goats. Under the influence of bad companions, I took part in the robbery of a man and a woman. Now, although I repent, it is already too late.”
When he had said this, weeping, he struck himself in the chest and trembled; the spirits holding knives howled: “Ha! Ha! Ho!” They whistled, howled, and leaped about, preparing to attack him. And even that woman, Chuitzhit Dakini, who was watching everything, was frightened too.
Yama ordered: “Judging by what he has told, his virtue is not great. Check whether it is true that there are no other sins behind him.” As before, the spirits looked in the book and the mirror and said: “Ha! If you had no other sins besides these, you could avoid punishment. It is impossible to count the fish killed by you. Look yourself in the book. You caught and killed many birds, pigs, sheep, and goats. Look, you yourself killed 29 birds, 50 large pigs and piglets, 43 sheep, cows, and yaks. Look, while you were setting snares and hunting wild animals in the mountains, you burned more ants and other insects than there are grains in an ear of barley. The four of you together, when you could, attacked and robbed pilgrims going to holy places, and when you could not, you stole from them. Look yourself in the book and the mirror.”
When this was reported, Lord Yama commanded: “Yes, you are precisely the one who, having accumulated no merit, will attain a bad destiny. Because in your past life you committed vile deeds for the sake of obtaining food and clothing, you will suffer in the eternal succession of rebirths. That you, having a rotten heart, attacked and robbed pilgrims and worshippers, causing them harm, is a sin greater than the fact that, showing no mercy to yourself, you committed the 5 inexpiable sins and those like them, and killed living beings. For this, take him to the hell of those who die again and come back to life again, to the hell of even lines, to the collectively destroying hell, and to the other 8 hot and 8 cold hells. For having eaten sinful and stolen food, pour boiling red-hot cast iron into his mouth.”
When such an order had been given, a white man appeared and said: “What has he done that he is being sent not to the higher rebirths, but to hell? Here is the amount of merit accumulated by him in this birth.” And he poured into a pile 10 handfuls of white stones. A black man also arrived and said: “It is impossible to enumerate the inconceivable number of sins accumulated by him over the course of countless rebirths. Here are the sins accumulated by him in this life,” he said, and poured out a heap of black stones the size of a mountain. There is no other place for him except the terrible hell.
When some spirits threw a lasso around this man’s neck, and others hooked his heart with hooks and led him to the square iron city, this man said: “If there is here a person going to the world of humans, let him tell people not to commit sins as I did, otherwise the hour of deliverance from suffering will not come for them.”
The Interrogation of the Monk-Physician
Then, in the same way, they interrogated a monk carrying on his back a leather bag with medicines. And he said: “In the world of humans I was a doctor. I was rich, and since I knew of the benefit and harm of good and sinful deeds, for the sake of my merit I ordered a sutra to be copied in gold ink and read more than 1,000 times. For this I offered the copyist and the reader a yak, a cow, a helmet, a sword, and six measures of barley. To the person who read the rite 500 times, I donated 2 suits of armor, 3 horses, 17 yaks, 2 fields, and pronounced the necessary good wishes. Regardless of who came to my door, whether man or woman, I refused no one alms. I myself, without interruption, read hymns all the time, recited prayers many times, was not greedy, and received nothing beyond what was given for treatment. I helped many living beings. If I was invited to a sick person and I could help, I immediately went to provide aid so as not to allow his death, and I did this from good motives. I did not use improper medicines or methods of treatment. I hope that after my death my wife and son will make great offerings. As for sins, since I lived in the transient world, in my house other people killed many domestic animals. I myself, however, did not deprive other beings of life.”
As before, the spirits looked in the mirror and the book and reported: “Regarding good deeds, everything is correct; as for sins, when your relative named Dzodur fell ill, you were invited to treat him. Coveting his property, you gave improper medicines. By prolonging the illness for 8 months, you depleted his property. But then you gave useful medicine, and he did not die, but recovered. For prolonging the illness and thereby taking possession of a good suit of armor, you will be punished. In addition, you yourself killed 175 cows and sheep in your house.”
As before, the spirits counted the white and black stones and reported that there were far more white stones. But when they were weighed, although there were more good deeds, the sins proved heavier. “Yes,” said Lord Yama, “if you had not treated that sick man badly, you would have obtained the body of a celestial being or a human. Now make him constantly drink boiling poisoned water. Drive 1,000 iron nails into his body. When he has atoned for his transgression, virtue will become weighty and sins will grow lighter, and I will send him upward.”
No sooner had Lord Yama given his order than the spirits hooked the sinner’s heart with hooks and, shouting, “Kill! Seize him! Seize him!”, led away that man, who said: “If there is a person here going to the world of humans, let him tell physicians not to give unsuitable medicines. This sin and its consequences are very great.”
Instruction on the Importance of Practice
So it is not all so simple. It is not all just Advaita. For some there is Advaita, and for others there are hooks in the heart. For the one who can remember Advaita and recognize all energies as his own mind, there will be the vision of clear light. But one who cannot do this will experience everything to the fullest. Therefore, one should practice with great diligence and zeal, carefully attending to one’s conduct, to the observance of all commandments and vows.
